Trade Deadline Recap: Giants Buy(Sort Of)

Oh my!  That might have been the wildest trade deadline I can remember.  No real blockbusters but so many moves!  The Giants did not sell off their pending free agents and made just one small purchase, a LHP depth piece, which is just so FZ!  ....and here I had my heart set on Dylan Bundy!  

Anthony Banda is a LHP who the advanced stats have always liked.  He's never had much success at the MLB level but at times his advanced stats such as FIP and Siera suggest he has been the victim of SSS luck.

Looking at his stuff on Fangraphs, he seems to be basically a two-pitch guy with a FB that averages about 92 MPH and a changeup which he throws about 50% of the time. We'll see if the Giants coaching staff has a tweak or two up their sleeve. 

Game Wrap 8/30/2020: Giants 4 D'Backs 1

A 3-run rally in the 8'th inning broke open a nail-biting pitching duel to give the Giants a win for the 3-game series.  Key Lines:

Alex Dickerson LF- 2 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .221.  This was Dickerson's second 2-hit game in a row.  The HR staked the Giants to a 1-0 lead that would stand up until the 7'th inning.  The single in the 8'th gave the Giants their second lead which they never gave back. 

Evan Longoria 3B- 1 for 4.  BA= .299.  The base hit drove in 2 runs to cap the Giants scoring and give the bullpen breathing room over the last 2 innings.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.75.  Cueto was sharp and pitched shutout ball for 6 innings.  He left the game tied at 1-1 with the offense and bullpen picking him up.

Sam Coonrod RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(1).  ERA= 3.68.  Tyler Rogers got the Save last night with Coonrod setting up.  This time the roles were reversed.  Coonrod has the classic Closer's stuff.  He has a 1.35 ERA over his last 7 appearances covering 6.2 IP. 

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The Win improves the Giants record to 17-19 good for 9'th place in the NL West but just 0.5 games behind the 8'th place Cardinals.

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The Giants have the day off tomorrow before starting a 3 game series against the Rockies in Coors Field.

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Trade deadline tomorrow.  Giants are rumored to be buyers.  IMO, they need another reliable SP if they want to make a run. Could probably use an OF too.

Game Wrap 8/29/2020: Giants 5 D'Backs 2

The Giants took an early lead and the bullpen shut down the D'Backs after SP Trevor Cahill had to leave the game in the 4'th inning with an injury.  Key Lines:

Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .301.  Kruk and Kuip commented on how easy Longo is swinging the bat right now, letting the barrel do the work.

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .329.  Had a good TV angle on at least one of his AB's  today.  To my eye, Belt is definitely a few inches off the plate from the past few seasons and there is definitely daylight between his bottom hand and the knob of the bat.  That's what I've wanted him to do for the longest time.  We'll see if it is a longterm improvement in production.

Wilmer Flores 2B- 1 for 5, HR(8).  BA= .280.  Flores HR added an insurance run in the top of the 9'th inning.

Trevor Cahill RHP- 3.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.51.  Cahill said he started feeling pain in his hip in the 3'rd inning and it was noticeable in the 4'th.

Bullpen- 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  Trevor Gott pitched the 7'th inning and Tyler Rogers converted the Save Op.

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The Win improved the Giants record to 16-19.  That is 11'th place in the NL but only 1.5 games behind the #5 Rockies. Top 8 teams get playoff berths.

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Johnny Cueto RHP tries for a series Win vs Taylor Clarke RHP this afternoon.

Game Wrap 8/28/2020: D'Backs 7 Giants 4

Manager Gabe Kapler may regret leaving Tyler Anderson in to get pummeled for 4 runs in the 5'th inning as a late rally by the Giants was too little and too late to overcome the 7-0 deficit.  Key Lines:

Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .293.  Longo got the Giants on the board in the 6'th with a solo HR.  He is hitting .407 over his last 7 games and .339 over his last 15. 

Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 3, 3B, BB.  BA= .316.  Belt's triple led off the 9'th inning rally. He's hitting .571 over his last 7 games and .465 over his last 15.

Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .258.  Crawford's 2-run HR to RF capped the Giants scoring and as sometimes happens with HR's that clear the bases, seemed to kill the rally.

Tyler Anderson LHP- 4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB.  ERA= 4.75.  There is a time and place for getting a few more outs out of your SP and for giving him a chance to build confidence by getting out of his own jam.  This game was probably not one of those times.  Anderson had already been roughed up for 3 runs coming into the 5'th inning.  The D'Backs opened the inning with four consecutive baserunners.  That was followed by a wild pick-off throw and a Wild Pitch and a ground-rule double.  That's when Kap finally decided he'd seen enough and brought in Caleb Baragar who finally got out of the inning by striking out Carson Kelly.  Some of those hits weren't exactly smoked and BABIP luck and all, but given his previous ineffectiveness, Kap probably should have lifted Anderson several batters sooner.  No guarantee the Giants mount a comeback against a possibly different pitcher in tighter game but the offense has been coming back late all season so you have to give them that chance.

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The Loss dropped the Giants record to 15-19 and into 12'th place in the NL, but only 1.5 games out of 8'th place which is the last playoff spot.

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Trevor Cahill RHP tries to get the Giants train headed in the right direction again today facing Luke Weaver RHP.

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There was a significant trade yesterday with the Angels apparently throwing in the towel and the A's finally giving up on Franklin Barreto who was once the centerpiece of the Josh Donaldson trade.  The A's get an upgrade at 2B for the stretch run in Tommy La Stella. The Angels are hoping that regular MLB AB's will be what finally allows Barreto to reach his considerable potential.

Game Wrap 8/27/2020: Dodgers 7 Giants 0; Dodgers 2 Giants 0

The Giants lineup posted nothing but goose eggs for 14 innings as they dropped both games of doubleheader.  Key Lines:

Logan Webb RHP- 3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 4.35.  Wheels came off with a 4-spot in the 4'th inning.

Clayton Kershaw LHP- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.80.  Solid case for GOAT.  Showed he can still bring it. 

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Kevin Gausman RHP- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.54.  Joc Pederson was Gausman's Achilles Heel with a double and HR to score 2 and drive in 1.

Dodgers Bullpen- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K's.  Both Giants hits were off the bat of Brandon Belt.

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The dual losses dropped the Giants record to 15-18 and into 9'th place in the NL West with the top 8 teams making the playoffs.

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The Giants close out their homestand and head out to Arizona to face the D'Backs in a weekend series with Tyler Anderson LHP facing Zac Gallen LHP in game 1 this evening.

Game Wrap 8/26/2020: Black Lives Matter

The Giants, yesterday, joined the Dodgers and several other clubs in support of black teammates and opponents who felt they could not play a game that day due to yet another apparently needless and racially motivated police shooting of an unarmed black man....in the back....7 times.  The Dodgers made it clear where they stood on the issue led by Mookie Betts and Manager Dave Roberts with full support of Clayton Kershaw.  Unfortunately it's less clear if the Giants clubhouse supported the action or if their hand was forced by the Dodgers.  

It is sad when non-baseball issues disrupt a game we all love and receive joy from watching on a daily basis, but this is something that had to be done.  It is clear by now that incidents like this should not happen and are happening in greatly disproportionate numbers to black victims.  I know policing is a hard job.  It's a dangerous job.  But we repeatedly see undeniable evidence of police behavior that is unnecessarily violent and discriminatory.  It is not anti-police to believe that these incidents can and should stop happening.  It's called quality improvement and involves better education and training but also requires a change in culture and attitudes.  Ask any person responsible for QI in any industry and they will tell you changing culture and attitudes is absolutely essential and starts with accountability.  

Accountability, in this case, starts with We The People.  We must hold ourselves accountable for our reactions to these things and whether we are willing to continue to accept living with an extreme injustice.  I don't see how a black player could play under these circumstances as if this is not happening around us.  White players must support their black teammates and opponents and use their privilege as a platform to hold society and it's police forces accountable.  We as fans must support the players in their statement and demand accountability and positive change ourselves from our police departments.  We must help the police do their job better.  It starts with us telling them that we demand and expect improvement.

This has to stop!

Black Lives Matter!

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I will accept a limited number of respectful and thoughtful comments.

Game Wrap 8/25/2020: Giants 10 Dodgers 8(11 Innings)

 You could call this night the Revenge of the Core or The Core Won't Die as Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford went a combined for 11 hits in 15 AB to lead the Giants over the Dodgers in extra innings.  Key Lines:

Evan Longoria 3B- 4 for 5, BB.  BA= .292.  Longo is red hot, hitting .429 over his last 7 games of which the Giants have won all 7.

Brandon Belt 1B- 4 for 5, 2B, 2 HR(5), BB.  BA= .313.  Huge night for Belt who had his third multi-hit game in a row and had 3 XBH's out of 4 hits.  This is the Belt we all imagined when he was a breakout prospect.  We've seen flashes in the past.  Is this another flash or finally his true breakout? He's hitting .600 over his last 7 games.  I could be wrong about this, but it looks like Belt has backed off the plate by maybe an inch or two and in one close up on the TV, it looked like he was choking up maybe a half inch on the bat handle.  If so, those two changes my be just enough to keep him from getting jammed quite so much.

Donovan Solano 2B- 1 for 6, HR(2).  BA= .351.  Donnie Barrels was slumping and was 0 for 5 before he hit a walkoff HR in the 11'th inning to complete the Giants epic come-from-behind win.

Brandon Crawford SS- 3 for 5.  BA= .256.  He didn't figure in the scoring but Brandon Crawford stayed hot and is hitting .320 over his last 7 games. All told, the "Core" has a combined 32 hits and 10 walks in 83 PA during the 7 game winning streak.  Add in Pablo Sandoval who is another 6 for 22 with a BB in his last 7 games.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 4 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 5.40.  Cueto was hurt by the long ball giving up a 3-run job to, you guessed it, Max Muncy in the first inning which seemed like the end of the game before it started.  Have I ever said how much I hate Max Muncy?

Bullpen- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K's.  The bullpen did not give up a run until extra innings when the rules changed and a runner started at 2B.  Sam Coonrod , who hit 101 on the TV radar gun, and Caleb Baragar were particularly impressive in 0.2 IP each.

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The Win was the Giants 7'th in a row and left them 1 game short of .500.  If the season ended today, they would have the 8'th and last playoff spot.

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Kevin Gausman RHP tries to clinch a series win and keep the winning streak going against Clayton Kershaw LHP tonight.

Game Wrap 8/23/2020: Giants 6 D'Backs 1

Mike Yastrzemski's solo HR gave the Giants the lead in the 6'th inning and Alex Dickerson added on with a 3-run shot in the 7'th to pace the Giants to a sweeeep of the D'Backs.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 1 for 4, HR(7).  BA= .309.  The legend keeps growing.  This HR came on his 30'th birthday.  Duane Kuiper asked "are there 24 guys on the Orioles roster who are better than Mike Yastrzemski?"  He should have asked if there is one!  I think we have our Max Muncy!

Alex Dickerson LF- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .211.  Dick had been scuffling at the plate but kept his arms in on an inside pitch and pulled it down the RF line for a short-porch HR.  Not sure why we don't see that more often.  Darrell Evans would have feasted in this park!

Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 3, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .274.   An extended hot streak has Belt's season line in respectable territory.

Joey Bart C- 1 for 4.  BA= .333.  Bart got his first MLB single....after 3 doubles.  He also ran almost to 3B to track down a pop up with a diving catch.  Let's see: He's hitting as expected.  He seems to have already made the pitching staff better and he's playing great D.  The Joey Bart era is here!

Trevor Cahill RHP- 5.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 1.64.  Cahill was dealing with excellent command of a 91 MPH FB, a sharp downward breaking curveball and an effective changeup.  Hey!  The Giants have themselves a rotation!

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The Win brings the Giants to the halfway point on their schedule with a 14-16 record, riding a 6 game win streak and in 7'th place in the NL West with the top 8 teams eligible for the playoffs.

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The Giants get the day off tomorrow before starting a 3-game home series with the Dodgers on Tuesday.  Johnny Cueto RHP faces Julio Urias LHP in game 1.

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Not sure if we've seen the last of Hunter Pence in a Giants uniform but it's a major possibility after he was DFA to make room for Daniel Robertson IF who the Giants traded for with the Rays for cash or a PTBNL. Sam Coonrod also returns from the DL to give the Giants another RHP in the bullpen.

Game Wrap 8/22/2020: Giants 5 D'Backs 1

 The Giants took advantage of a blizzard of free bases given by D'Backs pitchers to back the complete game pitching of Tyler Anderson.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 0 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .311.  YtY has a 17% walk rate which is probably the main reason he still leads Fernando Tatis in fWAR 2.1 to 2.0.  Defensive plays like a great catch at an archway in the 6'th inning help too.

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4.  BA= .237.  Belt is hitting .450 over his last 7 games.  Is it just me or is he looking a little less awkward at the plate?  Are Giants hitting coaches getting through to him?

Joey Bart PH/C- 1 for 1, 2B, HBP.  BA= .375.  Bart did not start but came up as a PH in the 7'th with a runner on 1B.  He smoked a ball that looked like it was gone but hit the padding at the top of the fence in front of a bullpen. Yeah, Bart looks like the real deal at the plate.  All 3 of his hits have been doubles and all 3 have been roasted.

Tyler Anderson LHP- 9 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.45.  This is the Tyler Anderson everybody thought he might become when he was the 20'th overall draft pick in 2011.  Pitch to soft contact, keep hitters off balance, keep low pitch counts, get deep into games.  He seemed to fall victim to the Coors Field curse.  The Giants are being patient with him(maybe out of necessity).  I believe they control his contract(via arbitration) for one more season.

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The Win was the Giants 5'th in a row and improved their record to 13-16. They now trail in the Wild Card Race by just 2 games.

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Trevor Cahill RHP goes for the sweep today facing Luke Weaver RHP.

Game Wrap 8/21/2020: Giants 6 D'Backs 2

 The Giants offense continued to produce runs and they got a Dominant Start from Logan Webb to win their 4'th straight game.  Key Lines:

Austin Slater DH- 0 for 0, BB.  BA= .347.  Slater came out after drawing a a walk in the first inning and apparently tweaking a groin muscle while running the bases.  If it's a long IL stint, that's a big loss and continues Slater's history of suffering injuries just as it looks like his career is gaining traction.

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .320.  YtY keeps hitting better as the season goes along:  .370 over his last 7 games, .333 over his last 15 and .320 on the season.

Wilmer Flores 1B- 2 for 3, HR(7), BB.  BA= .333.  The Giants keep facing LHP's and Flores keeps destroying them.

Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .263.  Longo hits his 300'th career HR and is hitting .333 over his last 7 games.

Joey Bart C- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .286.  Most impressive PA of the night was drawing a tough bases-loaded walk in the 7'th to drive in an insurance run after an intentional walk to Alex Dickerson in the preceding PA.  During the course of that PA, Bart fouled off some very tough pitches and mades a couple of tough takes.

Logan Webb RHP- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 3.29.  Statistically the strongest start of Logan Webb's career so far.

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The Giants 4'th Win in a row improved their record to 12-16 which only 2.5 games out of a Wild Card playoff spot.

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Tyler Anderson LHP tries to clinch a series win today facing Zac Gallen LHP.

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The Giants released Yolmer Sanchez IF to pursue other options.

Game Wrap 8/20/2020: Giants 10 Angels 5

Perhaps the most surprising part of the Giants season so far is the strength and consistency of their hitting.  The bats stayed hot in this route of the Angels as the Joey Bart Era dawned.  Key Lines:

Austin Slater DH- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(6).  BA= .347.  The Giants are 18'th in MLB in OPS but 7'th in Runs.  Either they are lucky in their hit sequencing or Manager Gabe Kapler is doing a good job of bunching his best hitters in the lineup...or maybe  both? They are also tied for 11'th in SB's with Slater swiping 6 of their 11.

Wilmer Flores 2B- 3 for 4, HR(6), BB.  BA= .322.  Flores was brought in to destroy LHP's.  The Giants are facing a whole bunch of 'em and Flores is destroying them.  

Joey Bart C- 1 for 4, 2B.  BA= .250.  We can skip the obligatory 0 for 21 at the start of Willie Mays' career as the Joey Bart Era dawned with a double in 4 AB's.  He was also HBP in his first MLB PA.  That's not necessarily a good thing as Bart has a history of 2 broken hands from HBP's.  

Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 3, HR(2), BB.  BA= .264.  Crawford stays hot with a .421 BA over his last 7 games.  Is he regressing to the mean or are the Giants hitting coaches doing something right as some have suggested?

Kevin Gausman RHP- 5.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 4.65.  Gausman continues to post spectacular K/BB's with less success preventing runs, a career-long pattern, so he may already be at his mean.

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The Win gives the Giants a 3-1 win in the home-home split 4-game series agains the Angels. It also improved the Giants record to 11-16 which is only 3 games off the pace for a playoff spot.

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Logan Webb RHP tries to keep the winning ways going against Robbie Ray LHP and the D'Backs.

Game Wrap 8/19/2020: Giants 7 Angels 2

Austin Slater and Wilmer Flores provided the long balls and Johnny Cueto headed a strong pitching effort to push the Giants to a win in the first game of the Oracle Park half of a home-and-home 4 game series against that team which won the 2002 World Series.  Key Lines:

Austin Slater DH- 2 for 3, HR(4), BB.  BA= .341.  Slater missed 3 games with an elbow sprain and returned to the top of the Giants lineup in a DH role.  He continued his hot hitting with 2-run blast in the 4'th inning and scored an additional run.

Wilmer Flores 1B- 2 for 4, HR(5).  BA= .301.  Flores cranked a 3-run blast in the 3'rd inning and added an RBI single later in the game to tack on an insurance run, which we all know you can never have too many of. 

Johnny Cueto RHP- 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 4.35.  Nice peripheral numbers but Cueto also threw a whopping 112 pitches in his 5.2 IP.  

Caleb Baragar LHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= = 7.94.  The FB is special when he commands it and he did tonight.

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The Win improves the Giants record to 10-16. Still a long way to go to get back into playoff contention.

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Kevin Gausman RHP tries to make it 3 of 4 in the 4-game/2 city set facing Jose Suarez LHP tomorrow evening.

Game Wrap 8/18/2020: Giants 8 Angels 2

 The Giants broke out to a 6-1 lead after 6 innings.  This time they cruised to victory in triple digit heat in Anaheim.   Key Lines:  

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 1 for 3, HR(6), 2 BB.  BA= .311.  YtY homered to lead off the game and set the tone for the day. It isn't that he just gets hits and HR's.  He seems to always get them at key moments in the game.

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .212.  Belt is 6 for 13 with 2 HR's and a double in his last 3 games.

Pablo Sandoval DH- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1), BB.  BA= .204.  Sandoval said "screw selectivity!"  He swung at one up around his eyes and somehow managed to barrel it up for a bomb.  4 for 10 over his last 3 games.

Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .242.  Crawford's bat has come to life with a 9 for 25 run over his last 8 games.

Trevor Cahill RHP- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.59.  Cahill lasted a bit longer than his first start lasting 4 solid innings which is much better than a full-on bullpen game.  

Bullpen- 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  They weren't blowing anyone away but 4 consecutive lefty relievers pitched a scoreless frame each before Shaun Anderson gave up a run in mop-up time.....although I am not sure there is any such thing as mop-up time in the Giants bullpen anymore.

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The Win improved the Giants record to 9-16.  They remain far out of contention for a playoff spot.

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The Giants and Angels both travel to Oracle Park for the next two games.  Johnny Cueto RHP tries to keep the Giants on a winning track facing Patrick Sandoval LHP.

Game Wrap 8/17/2020: Angels 7 Giants 6

This time, the home run Trevor Gott gave up in the 9'th inning ended the game in a walkoff.  BTW, 9'th innings home runs given up by Trevor Gott have beaten the Giants in 3 of the last 4 games.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .310.  The YtY story rolls on.  His 2-out double in the 6'th drove in the tying and go-ahead runs to get up the 9'th inning walkoff loss. 

Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .191.  Second HR in as many days for Belt.

Mauricio Dubon CF- 2 for 4, SB(2).  BA= .267.  Is Dubon establishing himself as a Keeper?  He's hitting .308 over his last 7 games and .310 over his last 15.

Tyler Anderson LHP- 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 4.84.  Terrific peripherals from Anderson.  Keep an eye on him.  He's still arbitration-eligible for one more season.

Trevor Gott RHP- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 14.73.   This was the third appearance in a row in which Gott gives up at least one ninth inning HR and fails to complete the inning.  I would hope this is the last we see of him in the Closer role for awhile. He needs to regroup in lower leverage situations.  And to think my storyline before this meltdown was going to be about how bad the Angels bullpen is!

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The Loss drops the Giants record to 8-16.

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Trevor Cahill RHP goes for a split of the two-game series in the heat this afternoon facing Dylan Bundy RHP.

Game Wrap 8/16/2020: A's 15 Giants 3

The Oakland A's crushed the Giants, or maybe the Giants bullpen crushed themselves giving up another gigantic inning except in the middle of the game this time.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .186.  Signs of life from The Belter.  Let's see if this is the start of something or a blip on the screen.

Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(1), BB.  BA= .224.  See Brandon Belt above.

Brandon Webb RHP- 4.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 5 K's.  Webb struggled with command/control and threw a lot of pitches but left with the game still close.

Bullpen- 4.2 IP, 14 H, 12 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  Wandy Peralta LHP gave up 5 runs without recording an out.  D'Rod gave up another 5-spot but at least got through 5.2 IP.  Brian Sabean was criticized by analytical types almost annually for overspending on the bullpen, but this is what happens when you think you can build a bullpen out of a collection or random, hard-throwing arms.

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The Loss dropped the Giants record to 8-15.  Probably time to throw in the towel on the season, play the kids and try to get some value at the trade deadline.

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The Giants travel to LAA for 2 games before returning to Oracle Park to complete the homestand.  Tyler Anderson LHP faces Griffin Canning RHP in game one tomorrow evening.

Game Wrap 8/15/2020: A's 7 Giants 6

 It was deja vu all over again at Oracle Park as Trevor Gott gave up a solo HR followed by a 3-run blast by, you guessed it, Mark Canha, to turn a 6-3 lead into a 7-6 in the 9'th inning.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski CF/LF-  1 for 3, 3B, BB.  BA= .304.  YtY drove in 2 runs with a triple then scored a third on a throwing error within the same play in the 4'th inning to give the Giants their first lead, 3-2.  

Darin Ruf LF- 1 for 3, HR(1).  BA= .281.  The Giants acquired Darin Ruf to hit home runs.  He was hitting, but all singles with just one double before unloading for a 3-run blast in the 7'th inning to give the Giants a 6-3 lead they would hold until the fateful 9'th inning.

Kevin Gausman RHP- 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 11 K.  ERA= 4.21.  Gausman featured a mid-90's FB with a wipeout split.  He now has 34 K's and just 5 BB's in 25.2 IP.  So far, the ERA does not reflect that level of dominance which you may recall is a career trend.

Trevor Gott RHP- 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 12.86.  Kap had not choice but to send Gott back out there for the Save opportunity if he wanted to salvage his Closer.  It obviously didn't work out.  At this point, I think Kap has to pull him out of high leverage situations until he shows he can get out of an inning then gradually work him back.  Brutal!

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The Loss drops the Giants deeper into last place in the NL West with an 8-14 record, still 14'th out of 15 NL teams.

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The Giants send Logan Webb RHP out tomorrow to try to salvage a win in the 3-game series agains Mike Fiers RHP.  How brutal is it that they are staring at a sweep after leading the first two games by 5 and 3 runs going to the 9'th innings?

Game Wrap 8/14/2020: A's 8 Giants 7

In a season so far characterized by bullpen meltdowns, the Giants suffered their worst late-inning come-from-ahead loss since 1929(wow!  Is that right?  It seems like I have spent most of my life as a Giants fan suffering through tragic late-inning losses, but OK, it was very bad!) blowing a 7-2 lead in the 9'th inning with the by then inevitable loss coming in the 10'th.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski CF/LF- 1 for 6, HR(5).  BA= .303.  This was YtY's 5'th HR of the season and 26'th out of 504 career PA's.  That projects to 31 HR/600 PA.  The power is what has surprised me the most about his MLB performance.  By far, his story is the best part of the Giants last two seasons.

Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .231.  Longo is one of the core/legacy players who have struggled, batting just .192 over his last 7 games.  

Wilmer Flores 1B- 4 for 5.  BA= .292.  Love the bat, but the fielding has been, well, not good, even at 1B where a bad decision contributed to the meltdown in the 9'th inning.  As told by Alex P of NBCBA, with 1 out, a run in and a runner on 1B, Robbie Grossman hit a grounder fielded by Flores who took two steps toward the bag.  Then for some reason, instead of taking one more step and getting the 2'nd out with a 4-run lead, Flores stopped, turned and threw to 2B where Brandon Crawford came off the bag too soon leaving runners at first and second with just one out.  Trevor Gott hit the next batter to load them up for Stephen Piscotty and the rest is history.

Hunter Pence RF- 1 for 4, HR(2), BB.  BA= .119.  No core/legacy player has had more futility at the plate but this was his second 3-run HR in his last 3 games.

Johnny Cueto 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 4.62.  Hey, a couple more starts like this and Cueto might have some trade value at the 8/31 deadline.  While it would not be a disaster to keep him around for the last year of his contract, I am sure the FZ would jump at an opportunity to get that salary commitment off the books.

Trevor Gott RHP- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 8/53.  Gott struggled with his control/command and perhaps let Flores mental mistake distract him on subsequent AB's.  What followed was a full on meltdown of epic proportions.

Gabe Kapler Manager- It was inevitable that at some point Kapler's game decisions, especially how he uses pitchers, was going to be compared unfavorably to Bruce Bochy, who was The Master.  Unfortunately for Kap, he has made at least one egregious error, forgetting a rule about mound visits, and multiple other ones ripe for second guessing.  Now the long knives are out.   Alex P is generally not harsh on manager decisions, but I am basically repeating the arguments he laid out in his post for NBCBA.  It is true that Closers are sometimes used with big leads, usually because they need the work.  It is also true that Gott should be able to execute in that situation and he did not.  On the other hand, Gott last pitched on 8/11 and this was the first of 10 consecutive games for the Giants so there was no compelling lack of workload driving this decision.  On top of that, Kap's own comments in the postgame were downright baffling.  Basically he did not have confidence in either Jarlin Garcia or Trevor Rogers to finish the game and they wanted to use just one pitcher.  

I mean, what?  If you don't think any of your setup guys can finish out a 5-run lead, what on Earth are they even doing on the team?!  I mean FZ, who is in charge of the roster, just might have a problem with that explanation.  And what if the Closer you bring in doesn't bring his game and turns it into a Save situation, who do you bring in then?  You've already put your eggs in his basket.

In a vacuum, this might be a forgivable mistake, but added on to what's happened already, I'm not sure Kapler is going to live this one down anytime soon.  For one thing, he better get Gott out there again soon, and Gott better perform better or this decision may get the blame for ruining a budding Closer.

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The Loss drops the Giants record to 8-13 which is the second worst in the NL behind the Pirates.  

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Kevin Gausman RHP tries to build on his last stellar start today facing Sean Manaea LHP and get the Giants back into the Win column.  Great starts don't mean much if the bullpen keeps melting down and we knew that was going to be the weakest link going into the season.  That's on FZ.

Game Wrap 8/12/2020: Astros 5 Giants 1

 One bad inning ruined the Giants chances of finishing a brutal 10 game road trip on a winning note as they failed to score after taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski CF- 3 for 4, 3B.  BA= .314.  YtY led off the game with a triple and scored on Alex Dickerson's single.  Alas, that was the last of the Giants scoring on the day.

Trevor Cahill RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  Cahill got called up before the game with Andrew Triggs RHP getting the DFA to make room on the 40-man roster.  Cahill missed time due to a fingernail issue but is apparently healthy now.  He is the type of versatile pitcher who can fill many roles that FZ and Gabe Kapler seem to love.  Hard to know if he was a Starter or an Opener in this one or if this was just a bullpen game at the end of a loooong road trip which made up 16.7% of their total games for the season.

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The Loss dropped the Giants record to 8-12 tied for the third worst record in the NL and 4.0 games behind in the playoff race.  The good news is they are coming off the toughest stretch of the season, although the NL West draw is probably the toughest in baseball and there aren't really any easy stretches.  

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The Giants get a much needed day off before starting a 3-game series against the red hot Oakland A's Friday Night with Johnny Cueto RHP facing Frankie Montas RHP.

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The Giants made two other pitching moves optioning Conner Menez LHP and Rico Garcia RHP to remote camp to make room for Trevor Cahill RHP and Dereck Rodriguez RHP on the 28-man active roster.

Blogger's Note

Sorry team!  Seems Frontier had a Wi-Fi equipment failure in our neighborhood so lost internet connection for a couple of days.  I will resume my regular posting with a Game Wrap later.

Thanks for your patience, everybody!

Dr B 

Game Wrap 8/8/2020: Giants 5 Dodgers 4

 It was the Giants turn to hit solo HR's in Dodger Stadium which picked up a bad inning by Hunter Pence and Johnny Cueto as the Giants hung on to ensure they would not be swept in the 3-game series.  Key Lines:

Austin Slater RF- 2 for 5, 2 HR(2).  BA= .310.  Austin Slater appears to be carving out a role for himself even if it's the short end of a platoon.  Hey!  The NL West is very lefty heavy so it's not as small a role as it might be somewhere else.  The power to CF was impressive and against the Dodgers and Kershaw!

Donovan Solano 2B- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .462.  So, what does Donnie Barrels need to do to hit .400 on the season?  Hit .380 the rest of the way.  Likely?  Probably not.  Doable?  Definitely!

Mike Yastrzemski CF/LF- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(4).  BA= .321.  Guess who the MLB fWAR leader is right now?  YtY, that's who!  He hit his dinger off a pretty good lefty in Clayton Kershaw to boot.

Hunter Pence LF- 1 for 3.  BA= .063.  Pence got his second hit of the season and scored the ultimate winning run, but he also caused Johnny Cueto to give up his first hit when he completely lost a high flyball in the lights.  Cueto seemed to fall apart after that and the lead almost evaporated when Justin Turner followed with a 3-run blast.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 5.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.40.  Cueto pitched much better than the line looks as he allowed just 1 walk and no hits through 5 innings.  Things understandably fell apart after Pence lost the flyball in the lights to end the string of no-hit innings.  BTW, there was no way Cueto was going to pitch a CG no-hitter. Those days ended with Bruce Bochy's retirement.

Tyler Rogers RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 10.13.  This is what FZ and Kap envisioned for Rogers, but this is the first time he really delivered two innings to get the game to the Closer.

Trevor Gott RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, Save(4).  ERA= 1.80.  Gott seems to be first in line for Saves right now.

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The Win improves the Giants record to 7-9 and in 9'th place in the NL.  Top 8 places get a playoff spot.

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Kevin Gausman tries to give the Giants a series win today facing Walker Buehler in a battle of RHP's. 

Game Wrap 8/7/2020: Dodgers 7 Giants 2

 This was one of the Giants more languid games of the season as the Dodgers outhomered them 4-1 and cruised to an easy win.  Key Lines:

Wilmer Flores DH- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(3).  BA= .320.  Flores' versatile bat would be a huge asset on a more competitive team.  Right now, he's a guy putting up numbers.

Jeff Samardzija RHP- 4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 9.88.  Solo HR's won't beat you....unless you give up a lot of them.  Right now, Shark is the pitching version of a punching back, an in-game batting practice pitcher.  As Brady Klopfer of MCC pointed out, you know you are not very good when it's reported the other team is challenging the HBP and people think it's perfectly reasonable.

Sam Selman LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.80.  He hasn't pitched much but Sam Selman has quietly been one of the more effective Giants pitchers out of the bullpen.  5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K's.  Not only did he inherit a bases-loaded jam and got out of if allowing just 1 of those runners to score, but he came back out and pitched a second 1,2,3 inning. This was his first time going more than 1 inning.  The opposing batter, Kike Hernandez, even argued that he had not been hit.  Maybe he was just being honest or maybe he really thought he could do better by continuing the AB.

"Legacy" or "Core" Players- 0 for 10.  I'll include Posey, Belt, Longoria, Crawford, Pence and Sandoval in this group.  Posey opted out, so he's neither contributing nor hurting.  The rest of this bunch is dragging the Giants down...bigly.  That group is a combined 26 for 152(.171) with just 6 XBH's for an IsoP of .072.  Just brutal, and even more brutal they are all playing regularly.  These are not the Glory Days!

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The Loss dropped the Giants record to 6-9 as they reached the 1/4 mark of the truncated season.  That ties them for 10'th place in the NL with the top 8 teams making the playoffs.

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Johnny Cueto RHP tries to get the Giants back on the winning track today facing Clayton Kershaw LHP.

Game Wrap 8/6/2020: Rockies 6 Giants 4

The Giants took a 3-1 lead in the top of the 7'th inning on Mauricio Dubon's 3-run HR but the bullpen melted down in the bottom of the inning and the Giants couldn't mount a comeback.  Key Lines:

Donovan Solano SS- 3 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .465.  Donnie Barrels rolls on!  .400 watch in full swing!

Pablo Sandoval 1B- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .212.  Sandoval had been struggling but rapped out a couple of hits in this one and scored ahead of Dubon's bomb.

Mauricio Dubon CF- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .276.  After going 0 for 10 in the first 3 games of the season, Dubon is 8 for 19 since.

Tyler Anderson LHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K.  ERA= 2.19.  A definite bright spot in this game.  Anderson may be auditioning for a longer contract from the Giants or he may be trade bait a the deadline.  Either way,  a very savvy pickup by FZ this offseason.

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The Loss dropped the Giants record to 6-8 tied for 9'th place in the NL which would be out of the playoffs if the season ended today.

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The Giants now go back to LA for the second series of the season in LA(how did that happen?).  Jeff Samardzija RHP starts Game 1 tomorrow evening against Julio Urias LHP in the first of a 3-gamer.

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Steven Duggar OF and Andrew Suarez LHP were optioned to remote camp to get the roster down to 28 which is the roster size for the remainder of the season and through the postseason.

Game Wrap 8/5/2020: Giants 4 Rockies 3

Brandon Belt supplied the offense, Logan Webb went a solid 5 innings to start and the bullpen held on for a much needed W in Coors Field.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .235.  Belt likes to hit in Coors and has some ownage on Jon Gray.  That held true in this game as Belt's 3-run HR in the 4'th inning got the Giants their first lead.  He later scored an insurance run after doubling to R-CF in the 6'th inning as he either drove in or scored all 4 of the Giants runs.

Logan Webb RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.13.  Webb struggled with free passes in his last start but not tonight as he threw 5 solid innings.  He went out for the 6'th but came out after allowing the leadoff runner to reach base.  That proved to be a good decision by Gabe Kapler as Caleb Baragar came in and retired the next 3 batters.

Trevor Gott RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(3).  ERA= 2.25.  Gott came out challenging Nolan Arenado who owns the Giants and had homered earlier.  Gott retired him on a routine flyball to RF.  He then got Daniel Murphy on a flyout to LF.  After a Ryan McMahon walk, Garrett Hampson struck out to end the game.  Gott seems to be the closest thing the Giants have to a Closer. So far, he's gotten the job done.

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The Win left the Giants record at 6-7 and in 7'th place in the NL with the top 8 teams making the playoffs.

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Tyler Anderson LHP makes his return to Coors Field but in a Giants uniform tomorrow night to wrap up the series. He'll be facing another lefty in Kyle Freeland LHP.

Game Wrap 8/4/2020: Rockies 5 Giants 2

The Giants defense gave away at least 2 runs and possibly 3 to make Kevin Gausman the hard-luck loser.  Key Lines:

Steven Duggar LF- 1 for 3, 2B.  BA= .167.  Gamblin' Gabe doubled down on his inneresting bet that RF is easier to play than LF in Coors Field.  Once again, he put Alex Dickerson in RF and Steven Duggar in LF.  I didn't see most of the game and I don't have any evidence that decision cost the Giants any runs, but Dugger came this close to tying it up 3-3 but his apparent HR to CF was determined to have hit flush on the yellow line for a 2-run double.  Of course, Duggar did not score despite there being only 1 out.

Tyler Heineman C- 0 for 4.  BA= .250.  Heineman has not been a terrible hitter but tonight he committed his third, that's right, his third catcher interference of the season that is only 12 games old.  There were runners at first and second with no outs.  The interference call loaded the bases with no outs.  One run came in on a fielder's choice and another on a single.  Although both runs counted as earned, it is quite possible that neither would have scored without the interference call.  Look for Chadwick Tromp, who has had his own issues behind the plate, to get more playing time.

Kevin Gausman RHP- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 5.93.  On the surface, it looks like Gausman has pitched in terrible luck this season.  17 K's against 2 BB in 13.2 IP should not produce in ERA of almost 6.  The problem is, this is a microcosm of Gausman's entire career in which he has always had better peripherals than ERA.  With 934 IP under his belt, Gausman has a career BABIP of .315(league average= .300) and a career HR/FB ratio of 13.5%(league average= 10.0).  He probably has a big enough sample size it is likely too late to expect them to regress to league mean.

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The Loss dropped the Giants to 5-7 and 9'th place in the NL which would be outside the playoff teams if the season ended today.

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The Giants try to get back on the winning side of the ledger tomorrow with Logan Webb RHP facing Jon Gray RHP.

Game Wrap 8/3/2020: Rockies 7 Giants 6

The Giants blew a 4-1 lead in the 6'th inning due to Coors Field and poor defense, then a promising rally in the 9'th inning fell short.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski CF- 1 for 4, HR(3), BB.  BA= .333.  YtY has become a legitimate power thread but he's good at so many things, his best lineup spot might be leadoff.

Alex Dickerson RF- 2 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .308.  Love the bat, but come on, Kap!  He had no business in RF in Coors Field, I don't care what you say about LF and RF in Coors.  Dick giveth and Dick taketh away.  He clanked a fairly routine flyball at the wall which went for a triple, but should have been a 3-base error.  He later made a throwing error in the same inning.

Chadwick Tromp C- 1 for 3, HR(2), SF.  BA= .267.  Tromp hits his second dinger in 2 days.  He got the start against a RHP so we may be seeing more of him in the coming days and weeks.  If the RH power continues to play, the pressure to start Joey Bart's clock is suppressed.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 4.97.  Cueto was looking great through 5 IP with a 4-run lead but Nolan Arenado unloaded a 2-run bomb to cut the lead to 4-3.  Cueto came out and the bullpen + bad defense blew the lead.

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The Loss dropped the Giants record under .500 to 5-6.  That is good for 8'th place which is the final playoff spot.

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The Giants try to even the series tomorrow with TBD facing German Marquez RHP.

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Churn Watch:  RHP Andrew Triggs was optioned to the 3-man taxi squad and Andrew Suarez got the call up giving the Giants 7 LHP's on their roster.

Game Wrap 8/2/2020: Rangers 9 Giants 5

The Giants offense steamed forward on a another comeback voyage only to crash on the rocks of bad pitching.  Key Lines:

Hunter Pence LF- 1 for 3, 3B, BB.  BA= .038.  Pence's first hit of the season was a good one, a triple all the way to the corner of Triples Alley.  Hopefully this is the kickstart to his season which as been a bust so far.

Donovan Solano 2B- 2 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .484.  Donnie Barrels continues to live up to his name.  Too early to start the .400 BA watch?

Chadwick Tromp C- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .250.  The Joey Bart era just got pushed back a little further.  Tromp's calling card is power.  His 2-run blast in the 6'th got the Giants to a 5-5 tie. Alas, it did not last long.

Jeff Samardzija RHP- 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 9.31.  I read somewhere that Shark's FB was up to 92 by the end of his appearance.  The highest I saw was 89 MPH.  After the game it came out that he has a blister issue that prevents him from throwing a splitter, which is his main out-pitch.  Maybe he should consider an IL stint to let it completely heal?

Andrew Triggs RHP- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 0 K.   ERA= 81.00.  I don't remember Triggs recording an out, but I guess he did.  Otherwise he walked the bases loaded and all 3 runners eventually scored.  Triggs got called up when Drew Smyly hit the DL.  Never been too impressed with Triggs.

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The Loss evened the Giants record at 5-5.  That left them tied with the BrewCrew for 7'th place in the NL, with the top 8 teams making the playoffs.

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The Giants now hit the road for a 4-gamer at Coors Field with the ubiquitous TBD facing Chi Chi Gonzalez RHP.

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Roster News:  As mentioned, Andrew Triggs RHP was called up from remote camp to replace Drew Smyly on the 30 man roster.  Triggs had to be added to the 40 man roster first so Jandel Gustave RHP was designated for assignment to make room.  Dany Jimenez RHP cleared waivers so was returned to the Blue Jays per Rule 5 rules.  When was the last time a Rule 5 guy stuck for the Giants?

Drew Smyly was diagnosed with an index finger strain, whatever that is.  There was mention of a "pulley injury" which would seem to indicate a strain of one of the long tendons in the finger.

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The Giants traded Billy Hamilton OF to the Mets for Jordan Humphreys RHP.  To get anything at all for Billy Hamilton, who was signed to a minor league deal and never added to the 40 man roster, is a big win for FZ.  Humphreys is 24 years old.  Drafted in 2015.  He is 6'2", 223 lbs.  His last full minor league season was 2017 when he went 10-1 with a 1.79 ERA and 83 K's against just 12 BB in 80.2 IP.  I assume he missed a season due to TJ surgery.  He returned to pitch just 2 innings for the Rookie GCL last year. He then had 11.2 IP, 8 K's and 4 BB's in the Arizona Fall League.  He is being assigned to remote camp.  Nice pickup with some upside.

Game Wrap 8/1/2020: Giants 7 Rangers 3

The Giants offense continued to thrive in Oracle Park while the pitching continued to suppress the opposition in a game that was not as close as the final score looks.  Key Lines:

Mike Yastrzemski CF/RF- 0 for 1, 4 BB.  BA= .400.  YtY proved he can play multiple roles at the plate was well as the OF.  In this game it was the role of patient leadoff hitter, drawing 4 walks and scoring 2 runs.  

Donovan Solano 2B- 2 for 5.  BA= .448.  Hitting in the three-hole, Donnie Barrels drove in 3 Giants runs with 2 singles.  Can he hit .400 in a shortened season?  Right now, he just deserves to be playing everyday until the bat cools off.

Brandon Belt 1B- 0 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .000.  Do you accept a .000 BA for a .500 OBP?  The Belt Wars rage on!

Evan Longoria 3B- 3 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .455.  Longo has swung a hot bat since coming off the DL.  The D at 3B is an upgrade too.

Tyler Heineman C- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .300.  Heinie got to play against his bro who started in CF for the Rangers.  How neat!

Drew Smyly LHP- 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.24.  Smyly gave up a pair in the first inning, the really settled down retiring the last 7 batters he faced including 6 K's.  Unfortunately he came out with pain in his left index finger and will be evaluated.

Bullpen- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.   Gabe Kapler seems to be getting the hang of this bullpen management thing.  He brought in Caleb Baragar to face the lefty hitting Joey Gallo with 2 outs that the bases loaded.  Gallo spit on an 0-2 breaking ball that Baragar seemed to think he should have swung at.  The next pitch was 93 MPH cheese on the inside corner at the knees that froze Gallo.  Tyler Rogers pitched just one inning and rebounded for a scoreless inning.  Sam Selman was used in the 9'th only because the Giants had a 5-run lead.  He allowed a run in Garbage Time.

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The Win upped the Giants record to 5-4 which put them in sole possession of 7'th place in the NL, a playoff spot.

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The Giants try for the sweeeeeep today with TBD facing Kolby Allard LHP.

Game Wrap 7/31/2020: Giants 9 Rangers 2

Wilmer Flores hit a 3-run go-ahead HR in the 5'th inning and the Giants won in a route.  Key Lines:

Wilmer Flores 1B- 1 for 4, HR(2), BB.  The Giants trailed 2-1 early but Flores crushed a 3-run jack off lefty Mike Minor in the 5'th inning to give them a lead they did not give up.  He started at 1B against the LHP.

Darin Ruf DH- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= 385.  Another strong game from Ruf who has been a lot more than just a 3-true outcomes guy at the plate.

Chadwick Tromp C- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .250.  Tromp had a rough first game on 7/29 but had no such trouble at the plate in this one.  Maybe the Joey Bart era can wait a few more games?  The Giants definitely don't want to start Bart's clock until they have more clarity on whether this season is even going be completed.

Mauricio Dubon SS- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .238.  After starting the season 0 for 10, Dubon is 5 for 11 over his last 4 games including 3 starts.  He has played at 2B in 3 games, SS in 4 and and CF in 3.

Logan Webb RHP- 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.35.  Webb struggled with is control/command and was up to 80 pitches when he came out in the 4'th inning.

Bullpen- 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K's.  After Webb came out, Gabe Kapler fed the Rangers lefty-leaning lineup a steady diet of LHP's out of the bullpen.  Shaun Anderson's inning was the only one by a RHP.  Conner Menez retired 4 batters and Tony Watson struck out 2 in his inning of work.

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The Win got the Giants back to .500 at 4-4.  They are tied with the BrewCrew for 7'th place in the NL West.

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As has become the usual practice, the Giants starter for tonight is TBD. The Ranger counter with RHP Jordan Lyles.

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Sam Coonrod goes to the 10-day IL with a lat strain. Sam Selman LHP takes his place on the active roster. Selman pitched a scoreless 9'th inning last night.